Kanji(ru)
by wyomingparmesan
Summary: Kagami visits Adrien and offers to help him with his Japanese, but he ends up discovering something he never expected. Includes actual Japanese. One-shot.


**A/N: Hello everyone! So, you might notice this is a little different from what I usually write. Well, a few days ago I just really wanted to write an Adrigami fic, so I did! I've been getting into that ship a bit lately.**

**I will also go ahead and point out that there is some Japanese used in this, but don't worry if you don't know any Japanese. It's all explained in the story. The title is also my attempt at a Japanese pun, lol. I'm learning Japanese, but I'm not super good at it yet, so if I got anything wrong, I apologize in advance. Anyway, onto the story!**

* * *

**感じるーかんじるーKanjiru-I feel**

**漢字ーかんじーKanji-Chinese characters**

* * *

"I'm gonna getcha this time!"

"Haha, not a chance!"

Video game music blared from the television's speakers as Adrien and Plagg sat on the couch in front of it. Plagg had recently learned how to play by jumping on the buttons, to Adrien's dismay.

His fingers clicked the buttons on the controller rapidly as Plagg shook the couch slightly by his jumping. A look of determination on his face.

"Player One wins!", said a voice from the television.

"Aw, what?!", Adrien said, sitting back on the couch. "Dang it, Plagg."

The kwami fell off the controller, laughing at him. "I'm too good at this," he said, holding his stomach. "Maybe you need to take some notes."

Now it was Adrien's turn to laugh. "You're funny, Plagg," he said. He sat his controller down when he heard a knock at his door. "Hide, Plagg."

Plagg complied and quickly flew under the couch.

"Come in!", Adrien yelled as he stood up.

The door opened and Nathalie walked inside. "Adrien, your father is currently in a meeting with Tsurugi-San," she said. "She brought her daughter along with her."

Nathalie stepped aside to show Kagami walking into the room as well.

A smile crossed Adrien's face as he walked over to them. "Hey Kagami!", he said, waving his hand.

"Hi Adrien," she answered back. She held a small notebook in her arms.

Nathalie smiled at the two teens, then checked her tablet as it started beeping. "I'm needed elsewhere, but don't hesitate to come find me if you need anything," she said before walking out the door.

"Wow, what a surprise," Adrien said. "I'm so happy you're here. I've been so bored."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm here then," Kagami said, gesturing to the notebook. "Your father mentioned that you've been studying Japanese and you're having trouble with it."

He felt his face turn slightly red as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, yeah," he said. "It's a bit difficult, but I'm trying."

"I thought that since our parents will probably be cooped up in there for awhile," she said, walking closer to him. "That I'd help you with it."

Adrien's face lit up. "That would be awesome!", he said. "Thank you, Kagami."

She nodded as if to say, 'you're welcome'.

He led her over to the couch, where he pulled the coffee table closer to it. When they sat down, she laid the notebook down on the table.

Adrien looked at it, his eyes squinting as he tried to read the front of it. On the front was a word in Japanese, written as 'かんじ' in hiragana.

"Kah…nn..gee," he said, trying to enunciate it.

"Kanji", Kagami said, laughing a bit at the funny face he was making. "You did good. So you can read hiragana at least, right?"

"Some," he said. "I'm still learning those."

"They're pretty easy," she said. "That's what we first learn to read as children. But today, I thought I'd show you some characters in the most complex writing system in Japanese."

Kagami picked up the notebook again, opening it up to show Adrien some of the pages inside. They were filled with many kanji characters, written in beautiful calligraphy, rather than being typed on a computer.

Adrien's eyes lit up when his gazed upon the page. "Ooh, I recognize some of these," he said. "They're used in Chinese too."

"Mhm," she said, nodding. "The Japanese borrowed them from the Chinese and incorporated them into their own language. They're pretty complex to read and write, but in Japan we're expected to know lots of them by the time we're in high school."

"Wow," he said. "So, I guess you know almost all of them, right?"

"I know all of the necessary ones for my grade level," she said. "But since moving to France, I don't get to learn them in school anymore. So, my mother makes me practice in these workbooks."

"And…you thought we could study some together?", Adrien asked.

She nodded.

"Awesome!", he said. "What did you want to show me first?"

Kagami flipped to a page towards the back of the book. "Here's the page I've been studying lately."

Adrien grabbed the book from her, examining the page. "Oh, I don't think I've seen some of these before," he said. The characters on the page were some of the more complex ones, more than what he had been learning in Chinese.

"They're higher level ones," she said. "But you're smart, so I know you'll get it."

A small blush appeared on his cheeks and he turned away from her slightly. "I sure hope so," he said.

"Here", she said, scooting a bit closer to him. "I'll give you an easy one." She pointed to the character '感' on the page. "This is 'kan', it means 'feeling'."

"Ohh, cool," Adrien said. "I think I learned a word using that one…I believe it was 'kanjiru'."

"You've been watching those romance anime again, haven't you?", Kagami asked, looking at him.

He smiled. "Guilty as charged," he said.

She laughed. "You're so silly, Adrien," she said. "You know most of those promote unrealistic expectations of romance."

"I know," he said. "But I find them to be so sweet sometimes." He sat back on the couch. "There's something so satisfying about watching two characters slowly fall in love with each other."

"I suppose," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I've just never found the appeal of them, but Japan is full of people like you who absolutely love them."

"If you want, maybe…next time you come over," Adrien said. "I could show you one of my favorite ones."

"Normally I would turn down the offer and tell you that I have no time for such foolish things," she said, putting her hand on top of his. "But for you, Adrien, I might just take you up on that offer."

A smile came across her face as she watched the blush return to his face, deepening in color. "I…um okay, cool," he said, pulling at his collar. "That would be a lot of fun."

"Yes, it would," she said, taking her hand off of his. "Now, shall we get back to this?" She held the notebook up.

He nodded, sitting back up.

"So, that word, kanjiru, means 'feel' or in some cases, 'I feel'," she explained to him. "One of the most important parts of kanji is that while they have a meaning on their own, they are also very important when it comes to words."

"I think I get it," Adrien said. "So, even if you don't know what a word means, if you can recognize the kanji then you can infer the meaning?"

Kagami nodded. "Precisely," she said, turning to him again. "See? I knew you'd get it." She applied a soft jab to his arm.

"Thanks, Kagami," he said. "I really have been struggling a bit with this."

"You're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for, Adrien," she said. "Sure, I might be able to kick your butt at fencing practice, but that doesn't mean you're not good at it."

He smirked. "Oh really?", he asked, playfully. "Even after all those times you've beat me at fencing, you still think I'm good at it?"

"Of course I do," she said, putting her hand on top of his once again. "You're actually my favorite opponent to go up against." She looked down, a small blush on her cheeks.

He scooted a bit closer to her. "I guess I'll have to agree," he said. "You're pretty lucky to get to have me as an opponent." He laughed when her mouth dropped open.

"Oh, now you're just being cocky," she said, smirking.

He put a finger to his lips, tapping them lightly. "Am I now?", he said. "Gee, I had no idea."

At this point, they were both laughing and Kagami jabbed Adrien in the arm, causing him to do the same. She responded by taking a pillow from behind her and smacking him in the face. He gasped, bringing his hands up to his now messy hair. "Oh, you are so gonna pay now," he said, grabbing the other pillow from behind him. She put her pillow in front of her, using it as a shield as he proceeded to hit her on top of the head.

"Hey!", she said, whacking him on the head as well.

Adrien flopped back on the couch, holding his stomach as he laughed. "You're the one who started it!"

The sound of his laugh was like music to her ears. It wasn't often that she heard it, but when she did, she felt as though her heart could almost bust out of her chest at any moment. It was such a sweet, happy sound. She found herself laughing as well.

Thinking to herself, Kagami took this as an opportunity. She threw the pillow down next to her and sat up on her knees. Her hands grabbed Adrien's wrists and pulled him up so that his face was close to hers. She watched as his happy expression quickly changed to that of a surprised one, accompanied by a small blush going across his nose.

"I am pleased to inform you that you are very cute when you laugh, Adrien," she said, watching as his blush deepened. "You are also very cute when you're flustered."

Adrien felt his own heart begin to pick up speed, his face burning with an intense heat. "I-I umm uh," he tried to speak, his mind failing him. "T-Thank you?"

She laughed. "You're only proving my point now," she said, finally letting him go.

He fell back at the release of his wrists, using a pillow to cover his face. "Shut up," he said, his voice muffled.

"Aw, come on," Kagami said, playfully hitting his knee. He turned over on his side, clearly still embarrassed by her words.

She sighed, feeling the slightest bit of guilt in her chest. Adrien was one of her only friends, so the last thing she wanted to do was upset him.

Seeing as how Adrien would rather hide now, she looked back at the notebook lying on the coffee table in front of her. She turned to one of the pages that was blank and tore it out. After quickly searching around for a pencil, it led her to his desk on the other side of the room. Sitting down, she thought about what she wanted to write. Many thoughts floated around in her head of what she could possibly say to him. Finally, the perfect idea came to her and she wrote it down on the paper, leaving it as a note next to his computer.

"Adrien?", she called out from the desk.

He finally uncovered his face and sat up, looking at her from over the back of the couch. "Yeah?"

"I…", she started, standing up and walking towards him. "I'm sorry."

He had a confused expression on his face. "For what?", he asked.

"I hurt your feelings, didn't I?', she asked, shifting her weight to one leg.

When he saw the sad expression on her face, his own changed to match her expression. "Oh, no, Kagami it's fine, really," he said, turning around and getting up from the couch. "I was just a bit surprised, actually."

She watched as he walked up to her. "Surprised?", she said. You looked a bit upset to me.

Instead of looking at his feet, he looked at her this time. "I was surprised about what you said," he said. "No one has ever told me that my laugh was cute before. I'm sorry if I gave off the wrong impression."

The sadness on her face turned into a smile as she stepped closer to him. "No, it's fine," she said. "But ya know, maybe they should."

Their eyes met for a moment and she took it as an opportunity to throw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. It caught Adrien by surprise once again, but he didn't hesitate to hug her back.

They stood there for a few moments, taking in each other's warmth. Kagami brought one of her hands up his hair, playing with it using her fingers.

The silence was interrupted by another knock at the door. They released each other and walked towards the door.

Adrien pushed the button, opening the door to reveal Nathalie again.

"Sorry to bother you two," she said, pushing her glasses up on his face. "But your parents are done with their meeting and it is now time for Kagami to leave."

"Thank you, Nathalie," he said, turning to Kagami. "I guess I'll see you at fencing practice tomorrow then?"

She nodded. "Of course," she said, walking towards the door as Nathalie began escorting her out. "Goodbye, Adrien."

He waved at her with a smile on his face as he watched the door close.

"Oooh, that was _spicy_."

He jumped at the sound of Plagg's voice, causing him to turn around. "Plagg!", he exclaimed, making the kwami laugh.

"Hey, I'm just calling it as I see it," he said, flying over to his cheese cabinet.

Adrien shook his head. "Whatever," he said, walking over to his desk. The white sheet of paper laying next to his computer immediately caught his eyes. He picked it up, barely noticing Plagg flying onto his shoulder.

On the paper was a message in Japanese that read '好きです'.

"What does it say?", Plagg asked.

"I…don't know," Adrien said, scratching his head. "I recognize the hiragana, but not the kanji." He turned around, noticing that Kagami had left her notebook there.

He ran over to the table, picking it up and examining the page she had left it on. "Aha! I found it," he said. "It's the character 'kou', which means…" As he read the meaning, his face became warm.

Plagg took notice of this and leaned forward so that he could read the page as well. The kwami grew the biggest smile on his face as he read the meaning. "It means 'fond, pleasing, or…" He leaned closer to Adrien's face. "…_to like something_."

Adrien spoke up again despite the sudden lump in his throat. "So, Kagami wrote 'suki desu', which basically means…", he began. "_I like you_."

"Ohh this is too good," Plagg said, flying off of Adrien's shoulder. "This calls for some camembert."

Adrien was stuck in place for a moment, a million thoughts running through his head. He felt the blush on his face deepen, creating a warmth he hadn't felt before. What could he say to her now? Obviously, she wanted him to find it or she wouldn't have left it there. He took a deep breath, starting to run towards the door.

Plagg almost fell over as he ran past, but quickly caught himself. "Go get her, Romeo!", he said, his mouth full of cheese.

Once Adrien was in the foyer, he saw that luckily the Tsurugi's hadn't left yet. He ran past his father and Nathalie, who were standing next to the open door.

"Kagami!", he yelled as he ran down the stairs.

She turned to look at him just before she got into the car. "Adrien?"

Before she could comprehend what was happening, he was standing in front of her. His was leaning over, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breathe. "You forgot this," he said, holding it up to her.

"Oh, thank you," she said, taking it from him.

"You're welcome," he said, finally standing up straight. "Oh, and one more thing before I go."

He grabbed her face in his hands and placed a kiss on her cheek. She put a hand to her cheek, a surprised expression on her face. "I like you, too," he said, giving her a smile.

She responded by giving him a small peck on the lips. He jumped back a bit, putting his fingers to his lips. "I had fun with you today, Adrien," she said. "See you tomorrow."

He watched as she finally entered the car and they began to drive away. He smiled, feeling his heart beating fast in his chest.

"Adrien, time to come inside."

He hardly heard his father's voice as he started walking towards his house.

That day, Adrien learned the true meaning behind the word "感じる".


End file.
